


At World's End (a Commonwealth Love Song): Alternate Ending

by espiritus



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Fan Service, The One Where No One Dies, Von packs a surprisingly hard punch, Warm Fuzzies, but definitely easier on the feels, if only slightly, it's still not a light read, not gonna lie, shameless feels-fest, some salty language, the original was dark af so this is me making it up to you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-23 18:31:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11995551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espiritus/pseuds/espiritus
Summary: If you read the original story, you're probably wondering how I could kill off a character I (and a lot of you guys, apparently) love so much. So, if you were masochistic enough to read through the whole thing and are now cursing it for tearing your feels into tiny pieces, this is for you. :)The story itself is rated M and (appropriately) plastered in trigger warnings, so please keep that in mind if you decide to check it out. However, since this alternate ending itself doesn't contain any violence or horrendously awkward sexy times, no Archive warnings apply.This picks up at the end of chapter 8~ enjoy!





	At World's End (a Commonwealth Love Song): Alternate Ending

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [At World's End (a Commonwealth Love Song).](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11784624) by [espiritus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/espiritus/pseuds/espiritus). 



> So I went looking for a metal cover of Adele's _Skyfall_ specifically to go with this scene, and let's just say that Our Last Night did not disappoint.

For a moment, everything was dark.

This wasn't what MacCready had ever imagined dying would feel like. There was no sound, no light; shadows he couldn't discern danced across the walls, mixing with those he did recognize- most notably Von's face; he couldn't see her eyes, but he knew it was her.

_Olivia? What the... If I'm dead, you aren't supposed to be here._

"Neither are you."

A loud hissing noise echoed through the room, as though someone had opened an airtight door right next to his head. His eyes flickered open: everything was still a hazy mess; he couldn't see or breathe, and a shiver raced up his spine as something cold brushed against his chest, followed by a stabbing pain. Once the fog dispersed, however, he realized that he was still in the cabin at Sanctuary Hills and that Von was standing over him with a stimpak in her hand.

"What are you doing? I thought I told you to-"

As he said this, Von glowered at him. She was breathing heavily, as if she'd just dodged a stream of mini nukes, and tears still glistened on her cheeks; she dropped the now-empty stimpak to the ground, the expression on her face a mix of pain and pure, unbridled rage.

"I remember," she said, her voice wavering as she tried desperately to stay calm. "I was supposed to be a good girl and watch you die, just like I watched Nate die. So I did. But you didn't say I had to let you stay dead."

Her voice was shaking so badly that she could barely speak. So she abandoned her composure and the next thing he felt was the palm of her hand as it came down across his face with a sharp slap.

"Fuck you," she spat, as if the words tasted bad. "Always have to get the last word in, don't you? Well, here's what I think of your _request_."

She backhanded him across the face, and he winced in pain as her knuckles connected with his jaw. She was just half an inch shorter than he was, but her strength belied her stature and the hit would leave a hell of a bruise. He'd never seen Von angry- mildly annoyed or upset maybe, but this was total-atomic-annihilation-level rage; hell, if anyone could burn down all of Sanctuary with but a glance, it was her.

"What the fuck?" he blurted out, not bothering to censor the errant curse as he caught her arm in midair on the third swing. "If you'd told me that you were bringing me back just to kill me yourself, I-"

Of course, this comment was rewarded with a glare and an elbow to the ribs from Von. "Shut up," she snapped again, shoving a second stimpak into his arm with all the tenderness of a deathclaw digging into its human feast. "You selfish, fucking coward. Don't you ever think of anyone other than yourself?"

When he looked confused, she folded her arms across her chest and huffed, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Don't you get it?" she continued, the last word barely a whisper. "We both know how it feels to lose everything... That you would not only put me through that, but expect me to just stand by as my world falls apart yet again, is... Well, I won't do it. Not when you're all I have in this fucked-up world."

"But, if Nate and Shaun were both dead, wouldn't you want to see them again?"

"Are you serious? Look, I've wanted to die ever since I woke up in that godforsaken icebox, but there are people here who need me. Yes, living is hard sometimes, but I can't afford to run out of reasons or else I'm signing the death warrants of every single person under my protection."

She made it sound so easy, and he envied her resilience. Leave it to Von to come out on top, even with the odds stacked against her.

"Yeah, well... I'm not as strong as you, okay?"

"Strength has nothing to do with it," she replied, more calmly this time. "Giving up is simply not an option, regardless of whether I entertain it or not."

He reached for her hand, but she yanked it away as a single tear slid down her cheek. She bravely swatted at it, though it was soon replaced by another and another; she was sobbing openly now, and her entire body shook with the force of each breath she took. Hot tears splashed down her cheeks, each one a bullet in his heart, and he hated that he was the reason for any of it.

"Well, what would _you_ have done? "

"Not negated our entire relationship, for starters."

Suddenly, it dawned on him that what he'd done was both stupid and selfish. Von didn't deserve this: she'd already watched her husband die, helpless to stop it, and it was unfair to put her through that again. On top of that, the Institute had her infant son and she'd still dropped everything to help him get that cure. In his heightened emotional state, he hadn't considered that he'd hurt her when he'd said that there was nothing left to live for. Of course there was- _she_ was worth it.

"Oh, god. Oh, Olivia... I'm so sorry."

He gathered her in his arms and held her as close as was humanly possible. She resisted at first, but her resolve soon weakened and she collapsed against his chest, her whole body trembling as she struggled to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, though her hair muffled the words. "When I said I had nothing to live for, I didn't mean... It's just that, when I found out my boy was gone, I was in such shock that my mouth started moving before my brain had a chance to catch up. You never deserved this, and I never meant to-"

Von peered up at him, her green eyes bloodshot. "It's all right," she answered, her words slicing cleanly through his own even as her voice trembled with the remnants of both anger and sadness. "None of that matters now. What does is that you're here with me."

She planted a soft kiss on his jawline, near where she'd clocked him earlier. It was already quite swollen and tender to the touch, and a quick glance at his reflection in the broken window revealed an ugly purple bruise the colour of mutfruit. But the pain was exquisite, because it meant that she was here and that in itself was reason enough to go on.

A few minutes passed in silence as Von set about patching the wounds on Mac's hands and arms. "There," she declared, returning the supplies to her med kit. "If you need a minute with Duncan before we take him to the burial site, I can wait outside."

"No," he answered, squeezing her hand tighter still. "You don't have to go. I know it sometimes comes off like I want to be alone, but nothing could be further from the truth."

Von nodded her assent and retrieved the gloves they'd worn when the others had first delivered Duncan's body from the Capital Wasteland. She put one on her left hand, then passed him the right hand as they made their way over to Duncan's body on the couch.

"My boy," Mac almost whispered, with a shaky sigh that sounded to Von like air escaping from a balloon. "I love you so much, and I should have been there. Tell your mother I miss her, sweetheart."

He touched Duncan's forehead, as though the gesture would somehow bring him back from the dead, before he finally broke down and cried. He felt Von's arms tighten around him in a fiercely protective embrace, and he leaned into her, grateful that she was just as skilled with silence as with her words. She didn't seek to fill the space between them with idle chatter for its own sake and, right now, her presence alone was more comforting than anything she could ever say.

"I don't know what I'd ever do without you, Olivia."

"Fortunately for you, that's not a concept that ever needs entertaining."

Von bowed her head slightly, and silence once again prevailed, hovering overhead like a mushroom cloud. She'd never known the little boy who now lay, motionless, on the couch in front of them, and yet her heart was breaking as though he had been her own son. Perhaps it was simply maternal instinct, or her involvement in finding the cure, that made her heart feel as though it had disintegrated on the molecular level, but she needed to remain strong for both of them... as well as for Shaun, who was still out there somewhere.

"I'd trade my life for his, if I could."

"Don't say that," Mac answered, tightening his grip on her hand as he rested his forehead against her cheek. "There are many things I'd give up, if it would bring Duncan back, but you aren't one of them."

Outside, vertibird blades whirred and rain pounded down on the remains of the tin roof like a hail of bullets. Indeed, the world had ended, and yet the earth kept right on turning as though none of it had ever happened.

**Author's Note:**

> playlist:
> 
> disturbed, _you're mine_  
>  five finger death punch, _wrong side of heaven_  
>  metallica, _the unforgiven ii_  
>  our last night, _skyfall (adele cover)_  
>  sirenia, _dim days of dolor_  
>  stream of passion, _autophobia_  
>  viasava, _new frontier_  
>  we are the fallen, _bury me alive_


End file.
